I was chatting to a friend of mine earlier, who is about as 'left' as they come. This was his attitude exactly - criticize her policies and point out where she went wrong (in the eyes of those of a left-leaning persuasion, at least), but don't attack her personally. Once you do that you've lost the argument and not got your deep-held beliefs across.

It would be nice to see a bit more criticism of her politics in the media, though, rather than endless tributes from weeping Tories and Henry Kissinger. Perhaps that will come over time, once the hysteria has died down. I certainly hope so. I for one don't swallow the "she saved the country" line, as peddled out by Call Me Dave today. She fundamentally changed it, yes, but not all her reforms and changes were necessarily for the best. Besides, what's to say the country would have been "saved" (if it needed saving) under a different Tory leader or a Labour government?

On the day that someone dies you usually find their legacy is treated with almost exaggerated respect, although I did hear Tony Benn strongly criticising her on 5Live today when I tuned in for the Challenge Cup draw that was then not broadcast at the appointed time. That was rather funny, because I also remember some years ago when Enoch Powell died, Tony Benn speaking quite gushingly about him, believe it or not.

You put your finger on a good point, though.

How can we possibly know what might have happened if Jim Callaghan had won the 1979 election, and Thatcher had never come to power?

How different would things have been today, either for the better or worse?

Any other threads will be automatically deleted regardless of content or quality.

Right folks, here's how this is going to work.

Myself and ckn, as moderators on here, have agreed this policy between us as a means of attempting to keep things as civil as possible on here on what will be a very emotive subject for a lot of people on all sides of the 'debate'. Please help us do that by following the advice below.

1. The Terms & Conditions of Use will be RIGIDLY applied here. Please take five minutes of your time to read them in full (see below) and ensure that ANYTHING you post in this thread abides by them, PARTICULARLY those bits highlighted in BOLD.

2. If you post ANYTHING here deemed to break the Terms & Conditions, your post will be deleted and your use of the forum will be suspended for a period of 7 days for 'cooling off' without warning. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure your posts meet the T&Cs, not our responsibility to check that they do.

3. We will start a seperate thread titled 'Thatcherism' where you can debate the politics rather than the personality. However, exactly the same rules will apply in that thread as in here.

4. Moderators may move your comments from this thread to the 'Thatcherism' thread if we deem it appropriate.

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Lets face the fact that you have had to issue this caution say's it all

Soon we will be dancing the fandango
FROM 2004,TO DO WHAT THIS CLUB HAS DONE,IF THATS NOT GREATNESSTHEN i DONT KNOW WHAT IS.

A lot of the extreme reaction would have already died away if it were not for the horrendous air-brushing of history going on as we speak. I'm sure a more considered reaction from the media will come, but saviour of the nation launched my own 10 minute rant about the evils she committed.

Rugby League is a sport that desperately needs to expand its geographical supporter base and its player base. This imperative means that all other requirements are secondary until this is done.

All power in the game should be with governing bodies, especially international governing bodies.

Without these actions we will remain a minor sport internationally and nationally.

First off, I was brought up not speak ill of the dead regardless of their politics

Secondly, as an callow youth heading down the South Atlantic to the Falklands I would like to echo Simon Weston who said agree with her policies or not we were bloody glad she was in charge during that conflict.

There is a distinction between not speaking of ill of the dead (which is nonsense) and celebrating their death (which is distasteful).

I can understand that for some the 1980s was painful enough that they might find this difficult to follow in practice but it's the so-and-sos that weren't really affected by it that just need to vent that are a bit much.

There is a distinction between not speaking of ill of the dead (which is nonsense) and celebrating their death (which is distasteful).

I can understand that for some the 1980s was painful enough that they might find this difficult to follow in practice but it's the so-and-sos that weren't really affected by it that just need to vent that are a bit much.

I disagree the negative critique of her (of which there is a lot) should not be suppressed otherwise the outcome will be to distort history.

Absolutely no time for her whatsoever, but she has family and friends who will mourn her departure and for them I am sure the loss is no less than that felt by your average bloke down the pub in similar circumstances.

The response to her death isn't about 'achieving anything'. It's a vent for those who were adversely affected by her, and also against the gushing nonsense we've been subjected to by the media so far today.

What's really quite interesting is how the most prominent reactions of that sort are coming from people who have actually been very positively affected by Thatcher throughout their careers. Comedians and various other celebrities who have made a comfortable career out of opposing what she supposedly stood for, even though some of them are too young to remember what life was like before she came to power.

A reasoned critique of Thatcher and her policies is one thing, and should be welcomed, but to spew out vile insults on Twitter or other social media, and to want to be seen to be doing that to curry favour with their supposed audience, is pathetic, in my view.

What's really quite interesting is how the most prominent reactions of that sort are coming from people who have actually been very positively affected by Thatcher throughout their careers. Comedians and various other celebrities who have made a comfortable career out of opposing what she supposedly stood for, even though some of them are too young to remember what life was like before she came to power.

A reasoned critique of Thatcher and her policies is one thing, and should be welcomed, but to spew out vile insults on Twitter or other social media, and to want to be seen to be doing that to curry favour with their supposed audience, is pathetic, in my view.

Tony Benn pretty much does that MartynI'm trying to find the quotes, but what he says rises above the emetic, hysterical dross.